Dreams of a Past
by RustedEagleWings
Summary: Koyo Touya dreams of the past. How do these dreams connect him to Hikaru? Or is it Sai?


**DREAMS OF A PAST**

**by RustedEagleWings**

_What are Koyo Touya's dreams telling him about the past? And how does Sai relate to them?_

* * *

From a young age, Koyo Touya had skill in Go. His father had played it recreationally and he learned how to love it. His father noticed that he played incredibly similar to Hanninbo Shuusaku despite having never seen a kifu or game of his replayed. However, as time went on, the similarity to Shuusaku was lost as Koyo learned the modern ways his father played.

Koyo played on the school go team until his coach told him he was ruining the other boys' moral by beating them all the time. He'd quit and felt guilty about it, but it didn't delay him for long. He had noticed the glares the other kids had given him and was now glad to be free of them.

* * *

_Dressed in older styled clothing, he sat in front of a goban alone in a room. He put down a stone and waited._

* * *

It was an unexpected dream, on the night of his insei exam. He remembered it as he was about to begin playing and set a stone at the same place as his dream. He won the game and became an insei but he felt the game had been played wrong.

As time went on, Koyo became the top in his class. Everyone admired him for his skill and quick rise to the top. But everyone was also afraid of him. Only one insei talked to him, a loud boy called Morishita and they became friends. But however many times they played, Koyo always won.

* * *

_A voice told him where to place a stone and he did, using the other colour. He responded to he play after a few moments deliberation. _

* * *

Koyo didn't need to take the preliminaries of the pro exam and he was disappointed not to be able to play. Instead, he and Morishita played in the downstairs of the building while waiting to find out which of their classmates passed.

* * *

_He kept on placing all the stones, placing black for himself and white for the voice. When he finally resigned the voice squealed in delight. "Excellent game!" _

* * *

Koyo was top in the pro exam, with Morishita close behind him. When they played each other, Morishita claimed he was finally going to win against his self-proclaimed rival. He lost but it was a close game. Only one more day and one more game for Koyo to win and become a pro.

* * *

"_With you, I can play and you will quickly rise through the ranks of go!"_

_He nodded to the voice. "Thank you. It will be my honor."_

* * *

When Koyo won his first title, he proposed to the girl he had been courting. She worked as a receptionist at her grandfather's go salon and they had met when Koyo had been looking for a place to play for fun. As they had settled down to play years later, Akiko found a ring in with the white stones. Yes, she agreed.

* * *

"… _won another game…"_

"… _such a young child…"_

"…_such beautiful play…"_

_He heard what the others said. 'But it's not _me_, it's Sensei.' _

* * *

Koyo was delighted by the news of his newborn son. He had been away for a go tournament and although he had rushed home at the news his wife had gone into early labour, he missed being there for her. She forgave him and held out the baby for him to hold.

* * *

_He sat at a goban, across from an old man. The man put down a stone. _

"_4,17" He nodded and put a stone down where the voice had said. _

_The old man put down another stone. _

"_4,18" The voice said again. _

* * *

When he won his second title, Koyo began to teach his son go. The boy had a few rough starts, including swallowing the stones, but he began to pick up the game. "It's no wonder." Akiko said. "Akira adores you."

* * *

"_16,5" He put the white stone where the voice directed before placing his own black one. _

"_17,6" _

_A pause before he resigned. _

"_Are you sure you don't want to play? You have been improving."_

_He smiled. "No, you are better than I, and besides, you love go. I want to see you reach your goal." _

* * *

After winning his third title, the dreams didn't come as often. Koyo had always enjoyed them but felt some kind of sorrow, especially when he heard that voice. He knew Akiko worried when he woke particularly saddened after one the dreams but she never asked and he never told. Whenever that happened, he would go to Akira and wait for him to wake so they could play go.

* * *

_When he coughed a second time, the voice sounded worried. However, he convinced it to let him finish the game before calling a doctor. "You want to reach the Hand of God and only I can help you here!" _

* * *

The name rung in Koyo's ears. The Hand of God. Yes, that was a worthy goal for one as unchallenged as himself. He tried to keep it to himself but soon others found out and debated whether or not Koyo could do it. He ignored their questions instead focusing on teaching Akira. The games would relax him, even when Akira tried his hardest, but he could feel the strength his son would have.

* * *

"_I'm fine!" He tried to convince the voice. _

"_But the man said words I didn't understand!" _

_He sighed at the panic generating around his collapse. _

"_I can still play go for you."_

_He found a pale and see through face come into his vision. Long, dark, almost purple hair and violet eyes looked at him in concern._

"_I'll find a way to play the Hand of God without you having to move or get up! Rest!"_

* * *

The dream was a sign that something was coming. The image of the face stirred in Koyo's memory. He realized that the other person couldn't physically touch the stones, or anything else and his dream self, or maybe _past_ self, played for him. He didn't have any dreams for a while and instead prepared for the new wave he had felt his son would lead although he now wondered if someone else would appear.

When the boy ran into him, Koyo noticed him eyeing his clothes with slight distaste. He had taken to more traditional clothing full time, whereas he had only worn it for official go business before. Koyo stared pointedly at the boy before he finally apologized and ran off, leaving the man to hear of his apparent skill from other people. Somehow, Koyo realized he had known the boy would be good at go, despite his appearance.

Over the next year or so, Koyo heard more and more about this boy. He hadn't been able to gage much from the few hands he played with him but something seemed familiar. Hikaru Shindou soon was being noticed, not only by him and Akira but others as well. That was why he requested to play the Shindan match with Hikaru.

The boy's play was interesting. Koyo identified the aura of an experienced go played that Hikaru just couldn't be that. A memory stirred within him but he couldn't figure it out, or why Hikaru seemed to be playing with a handicap. The game was intense although Koyo noticed the boy's eyes out of focus, as if gazing at something everyone else couldn't see. Although Koyo would never forget the game or the familiarity of the play, he couldn't identify where he felt it before.

Koyo was surprised to see Hikaru come to his hospital room. He enjoyed the new company but wondered at the boy's habit of gazing off into the distance. He was surprised however about Hikaru's eagerness when he learned Koyo played NetGo. His surprise doubled with the boy's force when he tried to get Koyo to play the online phantom, sai. Only the name's familiarity and the feeling in his gut made him agree. The night before the arranged match, he dreamed again.

* * *

"_Please don't die! Please! I enjoyed playing with you and I haven't reached the Hand of God. Without you, how will I ever achieve my goal?"_

_The ghost in robes fluttered around the goban where he lay. The stoned were scattered and he tried to sit up again. _

"_I'm sorry, Fujiwara Sensei. You have to find someone else." Speaking caused him to cough and blood splattered on the goban leading to more panic from the longhaired ghost. _

"_Fujiwara Sensei, Sai. It's all right. You will find someone new and maybe we can play together again."_

_Eyes closed and as the voice faded, a heartbeat stopped._

* * *

Koyo was beginning to piece it together. But the time when he would play Hikaru was quickly approaching and he pushed it from his mind to concentrate on the game. He tried to study the online player's kifu but was distracted so he ended up going in with only the knowledge of the game sai played with Akira online.

After a few hands, Koyo wondered how he had missed it. When he had felt a little bit of Hikaru in sai's play it became clear. Hikaru was chosen. Even though he had triumphed over death to return to play more go, Koyo wasn't meant to talk to his former teacher again.

'May we meet again, Sai.'

As sai played the game-changing move and Koyo resigned, Koyo knew that wouldn't be possible. He felt the lingering ties of the ghost loosen from the world and wondered if Sai had finally played the Hand of God. No, he determined. But someone would.

As Koyo wondered about the destiny of Hikaru, Hikaru was explaining to Sai how the Meiin could have won. Sai felt his ties to this world loosening and looked back to the screen. He smiled sadly.

'We did get to play again. But Hikaru will reach the Hand of God, not you or I. Hello again, Torajiro, and goodbye.

* * *

**AN: **REW Speaking! his is my first attempt at an HnG fic although I have so many ideas in my head right now. Why I chose this one to be my first? Well, it was the shortest idea. As I was reading the fics others wrote, I thought about how I felt Touyo seemed similar to Shuusaku and the rest of the idea came. I would love to expand on this idea and maybe even rewrite it but for now, this is all.

Thanks for reading and please review!

REW Out! ;D ;D ;D


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